So many queer movies focus on trauma and heartache... but around the holiday season, what we're craving is a cheesy Christmas rom-com. We want lesbians falling in love in snow-covered small towns where they have to save Christmas together, but they can be hard to come by. While things are starting to change — Hallmark, the channel synonymous with formulaic Christmas movies, has now made some — there are still too few. That's where out actor Lindsay Hicks (The Better Half)and nonbinary star Rivkah Reyes' (School of Rock) new film comes in.
A Holiday I Do follows single mom Jane (Hicks), who is trying to raise her 10-year-old daughter, manage her family's horse farm, and support her BFF (who also happens to be her ex-husband) as he plans his Christmastime wedding to a woman who isn't Jane's biggest fan. Things get hectic when a freak snowstorm hits, a banker — played by Marsha Warfield of Night Court fame — starts sniffing around the farm, and romance blooms between Jane and wedding planner Sue (Reyes).
The movie doesn't break any new ground plotwise, which is perfect because what we want from a film like this is the familiar formula of a Hallmark-style Christmas movie with a delightful Sapphic twist. "I'm really glad to see more queer rom-coms in general, but especially in the holiday movie space because holiday cheer is something that is very familiar to me," Reyes tells PRIDE. "But then every year when I go to watch my Christmas movies, it's all like straight people, and as much as I love The Holiday and Elf and all of those, it's nice to be a part of one that hopefully can become a family favorite."
Both Reyes and Hicks say they loved Happiest Season — and agree with us that Kristen Stewart should have ended up with Aubrey Plaza's character — but are happy to be a part of a film that isn't focused on trauma. "I also really love that we have gotten to be a part of a holiday story that isn't about, like, the drama of just being gay," Hicks says. "It's about the drama of being a human being. It doesn't have to be this kind of coming out: who am I? I don't know; I'm afraid of what people are going to think of me. It's just these two people who are who they are and get to have their sweet Christmas romance on the horse farm."
A Holiday I Do is set in an idyllic small town where there are drag shows and lesbian speed dating, and everyone accepts Jane's sexuality without question or judgment. At a time when the world can feel very dark, it's nice to have some lightness in the form of a cozy winter rom-com where everything always works out, and no one has to have Christmas dinner with their homophobic uncle. "Entertainment is like the biggest form of escape that there is, and I love, particularly, rom-coms for that," Reyes says of why their film feels like a breath of fresh air. "Like I get to just live in the world of a rom-com, where things happen by chance and there's magical coincidences, especially in a Christmas rom-com. But, yeah, I just hope that it provides the respite that I feel like we need right now."
Inhabiting a world that feels safe and welcoming — even for the short runtime of a Christmas movie — will likely feel like a cathartic form of wish fulfillment for queer audiences. "What an amazing thing to be in a world where you know, you don't have to worry about whether you're safe or not," Hicks says. "That's the thing about this world of this film is everything does feel like you can be a queer person in the world without that sense of danger of being abandoned or hurt or any of those feelings I think many queer people often will feel."
In the film, Jane and Sue meet and seem to have a near-instant connection that deepens throughout the movie as the two spend time trying to save Jane's ex-husband's wedding. Hicks and Reyes pull this off beautifully, which is a tribute to both their acting ability and their off-screen friendship. The two grew close while filming during the pandemic in the dead of winter, and now both live in Los Angeles, where they have an overlapping group of queer friends. "I think you need that connection off camera to be able to build that chemistry on camera," Reyes explains.
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Hicks and Reyes shared a bond and solidarity off-screen, and that messaging comes through in the film as well. All of the characters — most of them women — love, support, and help each other in a refreshing way. When most movies like this would mine the female friendships for drama, in A Holiday I Do, you only find friendship. How supportive the women in the film were of each other was top of mind for Reyes, "I think all around, the message of solidarity, community, all of that, is really special, and again, pretty far and few between for female-driven rom-coms."
If you're craving a sweet, funny, and very queer take on a traditional Christmas movie, look no further than A Holiday I Do, which will give you all the warm feelings and cozy vibes you're craving.
A Holiday I Do is now available to rent or own on the LGBTQ+ streaming service Tello. You can also feel good about supporting the film because 10% of the producer's proceeds go to The Trevor Project.
